RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Backs Mamata Banerjee For INDI Alliance Leadership, Days After His Son Tejashwi Yadav Declined

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav endorsed Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee to assume the leadership role in INDI Alliance.

The former Bihar CM's Tuesday (10 December) remarks come a couple of days after his son Tejashwi Yadav, former Deputy CM of Bihar, refrained from taking a stance and said this needs to be discussed.

When reporters asked Lalu Prasad about Congress' objections to Banerjee's leadership, the RJD chief said, "Congress' objections won't affect. Mamata Banerjee should be given the leadership."

Earlier, his son Tejashwi had said that leadership decisions would be made collectively by senior alliance leaders during deliberations while "there have been no talks on the matter so far."

However, he asserted that there would not be any objections if any senior leader of the alliance expresses willingness to lead the opposition bloc.

RJD spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwari had earlier acknowledged Banerjee as a key figure in the alliance, lauding her efforts against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and communal forces.

The TMC had earlier distanced itself from the Congress over raising the Adani indictment issue in Parliament and expressed its willingness to focus only on West Bengal issues.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha election as well, the TMC and Congress could not reach a seat-sharing agreement and contested separately in Bengal. The Congress could win only one seat while the TMC won 29.

The ongoing debate over leadership within the INDI Alliance reflects the opposition bloc's challenges in maintaining unity as it gears up for the upcoming elections in Bihar and later in West Bengal.